


Grasp My Heart

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Canon Universe, Fluff, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, POV Keith (Voltron), POV Lance (Voltron), Season/Series 04, Shy Keith (Voltron), voltron coalition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-05 21:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13396587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After Keith leaves with the Blade of Marmora, people in the Voltron shows keep asking Lance where he is and what's he's doing. There is only one detail: the coalition thinks they're dating."He was giving autographs to the Bih Bohs. Lance really loved this part of the Voltron shows because he always felt so popular and important. Coran and the others were talking behind him, but he chose to ignore them in favor to give his fans the appropriate attention.'How is it like to be a paladin?''Is piloting a mecha lion weird?''Where’s your boyfriend?'"





	Grasp My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> If you see any typos or errors, please let me know!

They were in another Voltron event and, as always, Lance loved the attention. The show itself was already over, but the locals invited them to a party and Lance was determined to make a certain someone who didn’t like the attention have some fun.

Keith was making the most of his brooding facade to keep everyone away, but Lance knew better, he knew Keith actually would like some company, he just didn’t know how to deal with strangers. So, he approached the corner Keith was standing and could see the small smile that Keith started showing when he saw Lance coming closer.

Situations like that were a recurring thing between the two ever since Keith became the black paladin. Allura and Coran would be always together and when Shiro came back, the three of them were always planning things; Pidge and Hunk were always in the laboratory or in the kitchen, but as much as Lance liked joining them, he always found himself gravitating towards Keith.

At the beginning, he told himself he just made Keith company because he didn’t want Keith to be the loner, he knew how much of a weight it was to him to be the black paladin. So, ever since Lance became Keith’s right-hand-man he promised himself he would carry half the weight for Keith, but as time went on, he started to enjoy more and more Keith’s company and their friendship and dynamic turned into something natural.

As they are chatting now, Lance remembers how it was difficult for Keith to accept their new focus. The more Voltron shows and diplomatic meetings the team attended to, the more Keith became tense and argued. Then, Lance made it his mission to make Keith enjoy himself at least a little during those kinds of events; he made jokes between the two of them, chatted about everything and nothing, gave Keith dance lessons in a particularly fun party and so on.

He knows that’s far from a solution and sometimes he finds himself agreeing with Keith’s logic. As much as they need a strong and big coalition they can’t let Lotor be, he tried to tell Shiro that, tried to tell they needed some kind of balance, but Shiro always explained his reasons as to why the coalition was the most important now. Till today, Lance can’t see when the team stopped making decisions together to follow Shiro blindly, but he trusts the former black paladin, and he knows Keith does too.

The night goes on like that, they talk, they laugh and Lance goes to bed later that night thinking everything is going to be fine.

 

* * *

 

 After milking Kalternacker, Lance came back to his room to play more video games. He considered going around the castle and talk a little with everyone, but every time he felt slightly better, his mind always remembered him that Keith was not in the castle anymore.

Keith joining the Blade of Marmora for real left Lance with mixed feelings. On one side, he was happy and wanted to support Keith, he was finally owning himself as a whole, he wanted to know more about his own past and Lance respected that; on the other side, he was worried, the last time Lance knew about some Blade mission it was because one of Keith’s friends and companions passed away. All of them knew that Keith joining the Blade would be dangerous, but being part of team Voltron was dangerous too, and so everyone supported Keith in his decision.

Of course, things were not so simple. If Keith was here, Lance could see him every day like always, he could talk to him every time he wanted to. If Keith was here he could protect him, could make sure he wasn’t going to hurt himself or worst. But Keith was there, and all Lance could do was feel powerless. If something happened to Keith all Lance could do was feel guilty, weak, and he couldn’t do anything more than accept the situation.

As if the universe was able to sense his train of thought, someone knocked on his door.

“What?” Lance knew he was being rude but he was not in the mood.

He heard the sound of the door opening behind him, and what he heard next was like music to his ears.

“Hey, um, we were in a kind of simple mission in this galaxy, so Kolivan told me I could come visit you guys…”

Keith, it was Keith, he was right here at arm’s length, in Lances room, so obviously he jumped to his feet and hugged the shit out of that mullet-head.

At first, he felt Keith stiffening in surprise, but after a moment he melted into the embrace. And, hugging Keith now, Lance noticed how much he actually missed him. It was a different kind of missing though, one he never felt before.

Lance has been missing his family for a while now, but he knows they are on Earth, and as long as Lance continues to fight the war with the Voltron coalition, he can keep them safe. He knows Earth is far and for now, it’s best for them if he stays away. He knows that if Voltron wins the war (and he doesn’t die), he can come back. That train of thought is the only thing keeping his homesickness in health standards.

But the way he’s missing Keith is much different because he knows that if he wanted he could have convinced Keith to stay, he knows he could visit Keith and Keith can visit him, he knows they could talk through their screens, and yet they do none of those things. Lance doesn’t exactly know why Keith doesn’t do it, but he likes to think he keeps things as they are because he doesn’t want to disturb Keith. He knows the Marmorites are busy, and they are kind of doing really important things, things that maybe Voltron should be doing.

Hugging Keith now makes him realize this kind of different longing. What upsets him most about it though is the fact that they could keep this feeling at bay if they wanted to.

“I missed you, man.” He hugs Keith tighter after speaking to emphasize his words and hopes Keith can feel just how much he means it.

Keith reciprocates with a squeeze of his own, “I missed you too, Lance.”

They release each other slowly and Lance just looks at Keith for a moment, really looks at him, and finally sees that he missed every little thing about Keith: his voice, his shape, his smell, his pout, his big puppy-like violet eyes, even his mullet. He realizes too, like a slap in the face, just how much he’s screwed.

 

* * *

 

 He was giving autographs to the Bih Bohs. Lance really loved this part of the Voltron shows because he always felt so popular and important. Coran and the others were talking behind him, but he chose to ignore them in favor to give his fans the appropriate attention.

“How is it like to be a paladin?”

“Is piloting a mecha lion weird?”

“Where’s your boyfriend?”

And there it was, the question™. Lance was used to being asked things, but in the latest weeks, the same question has been repeating itself. At first, Lance was confused and always asked for clarification, until the third time the question™ was asked and a very cute alien basically said that his boyfriend was “the one with red armor, pale skin, and black hair, everyone in the coalition always talks about how cute you two are as a couple!”. That was how Lance discovered that, basically, all the Voltron coalition thought that he and Keith were a thing.

He really tried to deny it, he did, but after the tenth time he was tired. He was kind of in love with Keith anyway, so what’s the point of denying some gossip? The probability of Keith discovering anything was nearly zero, so Lance always answered the same:

“He’s away on a very important mission, but will be back soon.”

And yeah, he didn’t know if Keith would be back soon, so answering the question™ was always a little painful, but he guesses that’s the best answer he can give for now.

After answering some more questions and giving autographs, Coran interrupted him, _as always,_ to give his classic pep talk before every show, and if Lance was a little distracted thinking about a certain mullet, no one seemed to notice.

 

* * *

 

They were walking trough Olkarion when it hit Keith, why did Kolivan ask him to come to this “coalition meeting” with him? He wasn’t going to complain, of course, but it didn’t make sense. Actually, a lot of things Kolivan does don’t make sense.

When Keith was going in his first missions, he thought it was normal for Kolivan to always come too, he was still in training after all, but even after his training was over every mission he participated in, Kolivan was present too. Said situation always made Keith think that Kolivan was taking care of him or something similar. It made Keith think that maybe Kolivan knew his mother? Maybe he had his own reasons? And even though Keith joined the Blade to learn more about himself and feel useful somehow, he’s always content with just the later.

He doesn’t like to dwell much on the reasons why he doesn’t ask the questions he wants to, but today his curiosity is winning over his fear:

“Kolivan, why did you called me to come to this meeting with you?”

Kolivan seemed surprised about the question, but answered without hesitation:

“I think you would be the most concerned about Voltron matters and I also think it would be good for you to see your friends. You miss them, right?”

It was Keith’s turn to be surprised now, “Yeah, thanks.”

Kolivan looked forward again as they continued walking in the direction of the building where the meeting was being held.

Keith would be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed that the meeting wasn’t happening in the castle because he really missed it, he missed it so much that even a glimpse would make his heart soothe a little. It was hard to admit it to himself though, Keith always liked to think he was strong and cold, but when it came down to it he couldn’t help it, the castle is his home.

The building was much like the others in Olkarion, but the difference about this one was that the front of it was full of windows (if it was glass or not, Keith couldn’t tell), because of that Keith could see everything that was happening inside.

There were a lot of people from many different alien species. When Kolivan said that almost every planet and organization from the coalition would bring a representative, Keith thought it would be a small strategical mission to discuss the coalition’s next step, but apparently, he underestimated how much the Voltron forces had increased in such short time. This meeting was more of a diplomatic party, in his opinion.

The two of them went inside, and Keith instinctively scanned the crowd in search of familiar faces, when he spotted Shiro with, _wait is that Matt?_ He couldn’t help the smile that adorned his face while he made a bee-line to them.

“Keith!” Matt was the first one to spot him, and when Keith was at arm’s length he hugged him. Keith stiffened at first but then reciprocated the hug with a little squeeze.

“You got taller.”

“We don’t see each other for two years and that’s the first thing you say?” Matt said after laughing naturally and ruffled Keith’s hair.

“Well, I’m glad you’re back, I like this rebel look and I missed you.” If someone said Keith mumbled the last part shyly, he would deny it.

“Awww, I missed you too.” Matt squeezed his shoulder lightly.

“Welcome Kolivan. And Keith, I’m happy you came.” Shiro turned to him with a smile and an extended hand.

Keith took it and the two of them hugged briefly. Kolivan nodded in Shiro’s direction and the two started to discuss Shiro’s new plan, Keith tunned them out and was about to ask Matt where the others were when Hunk swept him in a bear hug.

“Keith! We missed you so much.” This time Keith didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Hunk, and even though Hunk didn’t let Keith go, he could feel that his feet were in the ground now.

“Yeah, we really did.” He heard Pidge say from behind him, and then he felt her tiny arms wrap lightly around him.

The two let him go, and Keith saw Allura and Coran approach them.

“Good to see you, my boy!” Coran said animatedly while putting an arm around his shoulders, Keith smiled at him.

“You look well.” Allura smiled so honestly, all of them were actually, it made Keith’s heart ache in a good way.

“I’m happy to see you guys, and I missed all of you too.” Keith didn’t really know what else to say, so he hoped they knew how much he meant it.

“Oh my, I didn’t know you were secretly a sap, Mullet!” _There he is!_ Keith turned around to face Lance and was so happy to be reunited with all of them, that he put his arms around Lance’s neck, leaned his head on his shoulder and closed his eyes while leaving a happy sigh escape his mouth.

Lance seemed surprised because, only after a moment, he encircled his arms around Keith’s waist and squeezed.

“Hey there.” Lance whispered in a low voice right at Keith’s ear, and of course, Keith hadn’t shivered, _of course not._ Keith chose to bury his face completely on Lance’s shoulder instead of answering him.

The hug probably lasted a moment too long, but Keith strangely wasn’t bothered at all. They released each other slowly, and Keith already knew he was gone for this boy, but the smile Lance was giving him melted his already sensitive heart.

After that, Lance insisted that they should enjoy the party, and so he, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk chatted about how things were going with the Voltron coalition, made jokes about how much Shiro hated the new format of the Voltron shows, talked about some crazy history that involved Coran and alien drugs and the four of them even danced a little.

Keith was feeling warm and happy, but even all these good feelings weren’t enough to make him ignore the way almost everyone in the party was looking at him and chatting amongst themselves. It made him feel bad, exposed and uncomfortable so, as to not disturb the fun the others were having, he slowly backed away in the direction of the front door.

As he made his way through the crowd, Keith couldn’t help the feeling of his heart being painfully squeezed, every time a pair of unknown eyes turned to him, Keith felt a heavy weight in his stomach. He tried to ignore the stares and murmurs keeping his eyes trained only at the door, he ached for the feeling of cool air, a night sky, and space to breath.

He was starting to have difficult to breath when he finally reached the door. He stepped outside and was relieved to feel a cool breeze hit his face, he took some deep calming breaths and looked at the scenery of Olkarion.

People were smiling at each other, some looking with amazement to the constructions that Keith unconsciously, now, related to the Olkari. He looked at the horizon and could see the castle in the distance; smiling to himself, Keith felt calm again.

“You okay?” Keith startled, he was so frenzied to go outside that he hadn’t realized Lance followed him. Before Keith could turn around to face him, Lance came to his side and put a reassuring hand on his arm.

“Yeah, I just… needed some air?” He faced Lance then, only to find a disbelieving face.

“You’re not fooling anybody, buddy. What’s wrong?” Lance squeezed his arm, and the expression on his face turned warm and open. It made Keith want to be honest, to take out the heavy feeling off his chest.

“I just felt suffocated! The people inside, the-they keep looking at me and talking in low voices, and I know I’m wearing the Blade armor, it’s not difficult for them to join two and two and realize that a paladin of Voltron! Is half-galra! I know it’s hard for them to accept help from people that have the same faces as their tormentors, but I can’t take this anymore!” He was choking back tears at this point, the memory of the disgusted faces people throw at him and the other Blade members in almost every planet they visit replaying in his head.

Lance pulled Keith to his chest and squeezed tight. Keith grabbed onto the suit of Lance’s paladin armor desperately, doing his best to keep his tears at bay.

“Keith, I’m sorry to hear that, and I’m mad. I’m really mad because you and the other Marmorites work hard for the cause, to save lives, you and the others don’t deserve that, and you should not accept it. I have hope that someday things will be different and people will look at all of you with admiration because you guys chose to stand against the powerful Galra Empire when it would have been so much easier to join them. I admire the Blade of Marmora,” Lance pulled Keith’s chin up, and looked him directly in the eye, “and I want you to always be proud of who you are, you’re Keith, you’re human, you’re galra, you’re a paladin of Voltron, you’re a Marmorite and much more.”

Keith couldn’t help but bury his face in Lance’s chest, he was feeling happy because Lance thought so highly of him, if only he knew how much Keith admired him too.

He was going to say so, when Lance spoke first, “Now, about the people inside, I think this case is different.” Keith lifted his head to look at him in confusion.

“Thing is, there is a-a rumor going around in the coalition that we, me and you, are like, together.”

“Together?” Keith tilted his head to the side, _what does he mean?_

“Yeah, I think they got the idea that we’re dating because of the Voltron shows we attended before, I think they got confused with our closeness.”

 _Oh,_ as realization dawned on him, Keith couldn’t help but blush. He averted his eyes as Lance continued with his rambling, “So, what I meant to say is that they were looking at us, and chatting about our supposed relationship.”

Keith was impulsive, and that wasn’t news to anyone, but he has no clue as to how he mustered the courage to say, “Does that bother you? Would you mind if it was true?”

After realizing what he said, he felt embarrassed like never before. Keith could feel how warm his cheeks and ears were.

Lance’s eyes were as big as plates, but as soon as he sensed Keith’s embarrassment he chuckled and gave him a fond look, “You’re really cute.”

Before Keith could argue, Lance kissed him.

It was a soft press of lips that took Keith awhile to reciprocate, it was his first kiss, so he tried to mimic Lance’s actions.

He felt a hand let go of his waist to tangle through his hair and Keith melted. He lost himself to the sweet kiss, and they probably would stay linked for much more time, if not for the distinct noise coming from the party.

Lance separated his mouth from Keith’s and looked in the direction of the party, Keith followed his gaze and was mortified to find everyone in the party looking at them through the windows while cheering and clapping.

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea one night before sleeping, and since then this has been sitting in my drafts while I wait for inspiration. Well, it came today and I hope you liked, constructive criticism is always appreciated!


End file.
